
Political Pitch: Interview series with the premiere candidates for the Western Cape over the next couple of weeks.
The Democratic Alliance’s premier candidate, Alan Winde, joins us on the line…
Manifesto:
South Africa needs a plan to rescue our economy and create more jobs. More than 10 million South Africans are without work and half the population lives below the poverty line. Youth unemployment is amongst the highest in the world. Businesses, large and small, are struggling to survive in a chaotic and uncertain business environment leading to more and more unemployment. This represents a profound injustice and a clear threat to socioeconomic cohesion in our country. In effect there are still two South Africas, 25 years into democracy. One where there are the skills and resources to access economic and other opportunities, and another South Africa where the majority of citizens find themselves excluded with no hope of accessing life-changing opportunities. The DA’s vision of One South Africa for All is founded on the fundamental belief that there is an urgent need to remedy this manifestly unfair reality to ensure that all South Africans – regardless of their race, gender or geographical context – are able to reach their full potential and in so doing, truly build One South Africa for All. There are too many families in our country who do not have a single breadwinner. These households are completely dependent on the state with little hope of achieving independence. Every person who is able to work should be able to access employment opportunities and support themselves and their families. But this is not our economic reality. We believe our plan for Economic Growth and Change, Now, can put us on the right track to achieving the goal of good work for all South Africans and, in the short-term, ensure that there is a job in every household.
Our plan for Economic Growth and Jobs, Now, contains the following core elements:
- Economic policy for growth, jobs and change, now.
- Providing policy certainty and direction for growth and jobs by: passing the Jobs Act for a job in every home; eradicating employment corruption; ensuring labour unions protect the interests of workers, not their own elites; and introducing a Voluntary National Civilian Service year.
- Taking urgent measures to stabilise the economy and prevent government bankruptcy, respecting: public finances; institutional independence; and fiscal risks.
- Creating a new plan to realise economic justice for all South Africans, with respect to: economic justice for all; and land reform for jobs, justice and growth.
- Expanding access and improving higher education and training. • Unleashing small business.
- Enabling city-led growth.
- Stimulating trade and investment promotion. • Making industry and manufacturing work again.
- Transport: getting South Africans moving.
- Unlocking agriculture.
- Improving access and innovation in ICT.
- Cleaning house: unbundling SOE monopolies for growth.
- Energy: powering South Africa’s economic growth
Listen to the interview here: